The Sun Will Never Shine
by SHSL Slacker
Summary: Nobody really knew nor cared about that old hotel in the edge of town. It was just there, looming over everyone else, old horror stories and rumors circling it like an impenetrable fog. But it wasn't just some boring hotel with nothing left of its former glamor; it was something more, something far worse... despair. [Closed SYOC.]
1. Prologue

"She's ready." The voice echoes inside the dark room. It had been so quiet until that voice had spoken, which made the subject jump in fright.

"Perfect." A masculine voice, this time. A glint appears in the dark somewhere, a metallic sheen to it. The trembling intensifies.

The shuffling of feet. A terrified scream that pierces the cool air. Another scream, though muffled, came by a few seconds later.

"Shut up!" the male voice hissed. "God. All the past subjects have been this way too. I hope this one learns her place fast."

"Stay away..." a weak voice pleaded. "Please... Please... leave me alone..."

"We cannot," the first, ambiguous-sounding voice replied. It would have sounded solemn, if it didn't sound so monotonous. "You are the first subject to live through the first testing. We are putting the entire reputation of Hope's Peak Academy in your hands."

"Hope's... Peak...?"

"Enough talk," the male voice commanded before the first one could say any more. "It is time. Sit still, little girl. You are about to be introduced to a world of despair."

Another scream. And then all falls silent.

* * *

**I know I have no right to post this on, like, Thursday, but I can't help it. Updates will be slow, trust me. Until summer break. Who knows.**

**Anyway, here's the OC form. Mastermind will be female, just so you know (seeing as I practically wrote she/her up there).:**

**Name:**

**Age:**

**Gender:**

**SHSL:**

**Nationality:**

**Speech Pattern/Quotes (at least three):**

**Physical Appearance:**

**Defining Trait/s (scars, birthmarks, etc.):**

**Clothing:**

**Personality:**

**Backstory:**

**Hobbies:**

**Likes:**

**Dislikes:**

**Fears:**

**Greatest Fear:**

**Secrets:**

**Greatest Secret: **

**Mastermind or not? (answer only if OC is female):**

**Role in Trial:**

**Other (I'm 99.9% sure I forgot something, so just put it here):**

**I look forward to seeing all your wonderful OCs, everyone! uwu**

_**Marei, 23/01/14**_


	2. Beginning I

She awoke in a very strange room.

Well, it was honestly not that strange. But she couldn't remember anything of going into the room and sleeping on the queen-sized bed. When she got up, the bedsheets barely even looked ruffled, which made her think she was placed there.

Sitting up, Kirigiri Rin looked around the ridiculously extravagant room. It had a sense of comfort, but to her, it just felt… strange. Unnerving. But Kirigiri Rin did not usually get unnerved. So she stood up and proceeded to investigate as much of the room as she could.

**KIRIGIRI RIN**

**SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL DETECTIVE**

Firstly, it was nothing special. Sure, it did look a bit over-the-top decorated, but everything else that usually inhabited a room was all there. No extra trinkets or anything. She only found a small, black and white bear stuffed toy smiling creepily at her on the edge of her bed.

There was a television, a desktop computer, a trash bin, some tables, two beds (including the one she woke up in), and a couple other necessities. Kirigiri didn't really guess a lot, but the room looked a lot like the hotel rooms she saw in the brochures. The carpet looked hotel-esque, and was incredibly soft and fluffy. If she didn't know better, she would have rolled around on it like a nine-year-old.

But no. She was Kirigiri Rin, and she was fourteen. Fourteen-year-old Kirigiri Rin does not roll around on fluffy hotel carpets. Or anything, for that matter. She resisted the urge and moved on.

There was a closet near the only exit, the door, but she wasn't willing to go out just yet. She'd need to take a little look around the room first. So she opened the closet with zero hesitation, expecting at least _something_ surprising, but all she found was… a key.

A tiny black and white key like the stuffed bear from before. It was so tiny she would have completely missed it if it hadn't glinted in the light. Unsure of what it may open, Kirigiri dropped the key in her green hoodie pocket and moved on, her long, light brown and braided hair swaying slightly.

Next was the computer. It was already turned on, something that Kirigiri honestly didn't care about, and was automatically redirected to the mail browser. The inbox was empty, as was the outbox, and Kirigiri couldn't see any much use to the computer, as it wouldn't let her leave from the mail. She got up from the computer chair and left.

Last was the television. The remote was lying next to it, so she turned it on. It responded with a loud, ear-blasting static noise that she was sure probably led on to the next room (if there were any) and more. Kirigiri slammed her gloved hand on the button, almost breaking it, and quickly left.

There seemed to be nothing else of interest, as she even looked underneath the beds and scanned the tables for any items of curiosity. As she had found none, she approached the door and opened it, the soundless swish of the door a bit unnerving.

She cautiously examined the hallway she had entered. It really did seem like a hotel, with the carpeted floor, potted plants, and chandeliers hanging every few feet. Several doors just like hers lined the walls, all with completely different numbers that had no chronological order. Hers was 18914, which she decided was of no importance as of yet.

"Hey!"

The sudden voice caused her to snap her head to the left, where a blond girl was standing. She had a lolita blouse and puffy shorts on, and…

Noticing the look, the sixteen-year-old sighed and crossed his arms, as if used to it. "… I'm a guy," he said simply. "Friday Jones, super high school level Trapper."

**FRIDAY JONES**

**SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL TRAPPER**

"Oh," she said dumbly, mentally berating herself for not recognizing his gender. "I'm… sorry. But I'm Kirigiri Rin." Just then, she noticed something. "You're English, yes?"

"Yeah." He cocked his head to the side. "Rin, though? That's a pretty name."

Silence.

Horror dawned on his face as soon as he realized his slight mistake, and Kirigiri's irritated expression. "Oh, God, I didn't know! I'm sorry, Miss Kirigiri! I'm, I'm, English, like you said, but then–? Why–?"

"I'm not sure either," Kirigiri interjected smoothly. "You're English, and I'm Japanese… but we seem to understand each other."

"Uh-huh." Friday nodded.

More silence.

It was Friday who awkwardly broke it first. "Uh, do you know where we are? I remember sleeping in my bed but… yeah, that's it, and then I wake up in here. Weird."

"A hotel of sorts?" Kirigiri suggested. "Everything does look very hotel-like…"

"Yeah… hey, you meet any other people so far? You're my first."

The detective shook her head. "Not really, no… you, too. Shall I… go, then?" She had little experience to talking to other people who weren't her parents, so she had no idea how to neatly exit from a conversation that was clearly leading nowhere.

"Uh… sure?" Friday chuckled nervously. "Then, I'll be going, too. Good luck on your search, Miss Kirigiri!"

She nodded, somewhat haltingly, and left for the opposite direction; east.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, hit it over the- OH MY GOD YES YES YES DO IT DO IT DO IT!"

"I know, I know! I got zhis. I got zhis! HYAH!"

"YES! YES, YES, I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT! HIGH-FIVE, GIRL!"

"HIGH-FIVE!"

"This is so stupid it's killing my brain cells. Can I go?"

The two athletic girls clapped each other's hands and cheered as if they had just won a competition. A short sixteen-year-old girl watching on the sidelines clapped politely while the last one who had spoken scoffed.

"I can't believe I'm being regarded as being on the same level as _you_ two. I'm _the_ Basketball Player, Akiyo Heiwa, after all."

**AKIYO HEIWA**

**SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL BASKETBALL PLAYER**

The first, and probably louder, girl pouted. "_Come_ on, Akicchi! Learn to have some _fun_! You're horrible at being goalie, too!"

Akiyo scowled. "Do you _think_ I would bother _trying _to get better at being _goalie_ when I'm a _Basketball Player_? No, I don't particularly think so, either, Takahashi. Don't let your title get to your head."

**TAKAHASHI HARUNA**

**SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL SOCCER PLAYER**

Takahashi let out another 'ehh' before going quiet, crossing her arms and glaring heatedly at the Basketball Player, who didn't seem to care much at all. The other girl, a fourteen-year-old, tilted her head in wonder. "Does zhat mean ve shall have to find another goalie? Finding another _person_ vas bad enough…"

**SUUKOI FUYU**

**SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL TRAINER**

"Ah, I'm sure there'll be someone _friendlier_ than this meanie, Fuyucchi!" Takahashi exclaimed happily. Fuyu nodded, smiling weakly.

A tapping on the side alerted the three to the short girl before Akiyo could shoot another annoyed remark. She scribbled quickly on the notebook on her lap, before showing it to them. "We are in what seems to be the buffet area. Why on Earth are we playing soccer here?"

**FENHUANG QI**

**SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL CHESSMASTER**

Takahashi peered at the words for a bit, before straightening and smiling widely. "Well, because we have nothing else to do while waiting for something to happen, of course! Anyway, how noisy we were might have got some people over, so…"

"In fact, it did," Akiyo said, sounding almost surprised. "How extraordinary. The Soccer Player with air for a brain did something useful."

"Eh–!" Before Takahashi could retort, they were all silenced by the entering of a fifteen-year-old looking like she had entered the toilet paper factory and accidentally got into one of the machines. She had bandages wrapped around neck and both legs, along with a face mask, so she looked a bit… strange. Threatening, even.

"… Is there something on my face? Stop staring…" she muttered, averting her gaze from the rest of the teenagers. "Uh… I'm Hidaki Kohaku. Super high school level Babysitter."

**HIDAKI KOHAKU**

**SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL BABYSITTER**

Akiyo snorted. "Babysitter? How does one even get a title of Babysitter?"

Hidaki frowned. "Well, I did. What are you, stupid?" Under her breath, she murmured, "I've always wanted to say that."

"See? We found a new person out of it," Takahashi proudly said, hands on hips as she smirked at the Basketball Player. Facing Hidaki, she smiled and stuck out her hand. "Takahashi Haruna, here! Soccer Player, y'know. That's Fuyucchi, and that's Phoenix."

"… Phoenix?" Hidaki slowly repeated. "Um–"

"Nickname," Qi hastily wrote on her notebook, showing it to Hidaki. The Babysitter's mouth formed into an 'o'. "It's FenHuang Qi. Chessmaster."

"Oh. Um, right." She bowed politely to the Trainer, who bowed back somewhat sloppily. She turned to look at Akiyo. "You?"

"And I should tell my name to someone like a _Babysitter_… why?" He narrowed his eyes.

"That's Akicchi, Basketball Player." Takahashi jerked her thumb towards him. "He's mean. No one likes him. No one probably will."

Hidaki nodded, somewhat confused and somewhat amused. "Um. Right. Okay. Nice to… meet you all?"

Just as she finished saying that, a loud crackling of static echoed in the buffet area. "Nyarro~? Oh, I'm sure you lot can hear that anyway~" A purring of sorts. "Kindly gather in the lobby, nyaowr! Ya're all on the second floor, so just go down the stairs. Exercise, exercise, nya!" With that, there was a sound that signified the end of the announcement, along with a thud of some kind.

Fuyu stared up at the ceiling, looking for where the sound must have been. "Vhat ever had zhat been?" she asked, her German accent clearly showing.

"We should probably just follow what the cat said," Qi wrote. "Perhaps we can get more clues on where we are then, and maybe how to get out of here as well."

"Hmph." Akiyo crossed his arms, already walking away towards the exit. "Whatever. I'm just going there because there's nothing else left for me to do." After that, he turned the corner and left the remaining teenagers' sights completely.

* * *

**A rushed, 1k word count chapter introducing very few of the main cast. u_u At least the main character was introduced. That's right - Kirigiri Rin, SHSL Detective, by Nessie71! -clapclap- I admit I was a bit biased, but, hey. Now the OCs:**

**Kirigiri Rin, SHSL Detective - Nessie71**

**Friday Jones, SHSL Trapper - Unify**

**Akiyo Heiwa, SHSL Basketball Player - reven228**

**Takahashi Haruna, SHSL Soccer Player - Shiranai Atsune**

**Suukoi Fuyu, SHSL Trainer - LadyGlitchy**

**FenHuang Qi, SHSL Chessmaster - The Utter Happenstance**

**Hidaki Kohaku, SHSL Babysitter - Miss Usami**

**Next chapter? IN MARCH. Nah, just kidding. Maybe, like, next week or something. Who knows. Look forward to it, anyway. Thanks for reading and/or submitting, wonderful people!**

_**Marei, 24/1/14**_


	3. Beginning II

"How very strange," a slight murmur came from the counter. A tall eighteen-year-old with long braided black hair sat on it casually, arms crossed and brows furrowed above his green eyes. "Should the one who called us here be present at this moment?"

**EZAKIYA LIN**

**SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL PLASTIC SURGEON**

"Hmph." A sixteen-year-old with a somewhat 'punk' persona stuck up her nose, pointedly looking away from him. "It's not like I came here 'cause I wanted to, anyway. There just wasn't much else to do. God, I hope whatever that thing was hurries up so I can get out of here."

Ezakiya tilted his head to the side, somehow looking both curious and not. "Do most Forensic Analysts speak and look like that, Mikyoko-san?"

**MIKYOKO SHIZU**

**SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL FORENSIC ANALYST**

"Shut up!" she hissed. "What – you don't think I could be a scientist? Ever hear the saying 'looks can be deceiving'?" Her eyebrow twitched as she said so, irritation clearly showing.

The Plastic Surgeon righted his head, shrugging at the same time. Goodness knows how. "I did not think that saying pertained to you."

"I am going to tear out your innards and feed them to the cro–" Mikyoko looked just about ready to do exactly what she had said, but footsteps from the staircase not too far away started getting louder to be noticeable. The duo paused in their antics and turned to look at the staircase (Mikyoko a bit reluctantly), where a brunette and a blonde. The latter seemed to be very curious about everything, while the former looked straight ahead, completely ignoring the Surgeon and Analyst.

"Oh? Miss Kirigiri! There're more people here!" the blonde exclaimed, walking up to them with a very pleasant smile on her face. "Good day to you. I'm Friday Jones, the super high school level Trapper."

"Hm? You're… a dude?" Mikyoko said in obvious surprise, poking the left area of his chest. Friday let out a tired sigh as Mikyoko's eyes widened in shock. "What? But… that defies all the laws of nature…"

Ezakiya subtly rolled his eyes at the Forensic Analyst, muttering under his breath something along the lines of 'how someone like her got to be a scientist', then stuck out his hand to Friday. "Ezakiya Lin, Plastic Surgeon. Good to meet you."

The Trapper shook his hand, nodding happily, and turning to look at the brunette standing a few ways away from the three of them. "They're just about okay, Miss Kirigiri. Definitely not the ones who called us here. And they're not gonna kill us either… I think."

Kirigiri spared them a glance, sighed, and hesitantly turned to face them. "Kirigiri Rin. … We're done here." Saying so, she calmly walked even further from the small group and took a seat on the numerous orange couches surrounding the perimeter of the lobby.

Friday stared after her, a bit concerned, but nodded anyway and turned to converse a bit more about where they might be with Ezakiya. Mikyoko scowled and looked away, staring at the staircase expectantly.

He'd woken up in a strange room, had proceeded to investigate his surroundings, and had been interrupted by a very loud announcement about going to the lobby via the stairs.

Well, screw that, he thought as he adjusted the black headphones hung around his neck. I'm taking the elevator.

**KASHINI SORA**

**SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL PSYCHOLOGIST**

The _ding_ echoed pleasantly as he walked in. Inside was already two other people who were standing as far away from each other as possible; a boy with a black mop for hair that partially covered his hazel eyes and a fifteen-year-old girl with long brown hair in a ponytail.

"Oh. Hi." The girl blinked her brown eyes, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "You are another one of those super high school levels, aren't you?" By the tone of her voice, Kashini was more than a hundred percent sure she didn't doubt herself.

"Yes." He bowed. "Kashini Sora, Psychologist. You?"

She looked away slightly, and the Psychologist caught a glimpse of a spray of freckles across her face. "Kato Miharu. Trivia Master."

**KATO MIHARU**

**SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL TRIVIA MASTER**

He nodded, then turned to look at the male, who was fixing his black leather gloves restlessly. "And you?"

He looked surprised, for a moment, before nervously recollecting himself. "Name? My… uhh, Edward… Hidaka. Antique Collector."

**EDWARD HIDAKA**

**SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL ANTIQUE COLLECTOR**

"But. Um. Do you know where we are?" Edward asked unsurely. "So far, I've only met Kato here, and then that announcement… and everything looks like what you'd find in a hotel." He cocked his head, hearing the faint sound of classical elevator music in the background. "Even these things have their music in them. It's all so… hotel."

"True," Kato said. "I have looked around and discovered several places one would normally find in a five-star hotel." Under her breath, she murmured, 'though it is not like I have ever been to one'. "I see this is only the second floor, and the numerous staircases leading to the next are all blocked by iron bars. I have tried the elevator with Hidaka-kun and we could not access the other floors besides the ground floor." She paused. "It appears as if our captor is insistent on making us all go to the main lobby."

As soon as she finished saying that, there was another familiar _ding_ and the elevator doors opened to reveal a multitude of people. Counting quickly, Kashini observed fifteen people; a little more than what he had expected. No matter. He got off the elevator, along with the other two beside him, and tried not to get to close to anyone else. He noticed the girl do the same, as well as Edward, who attempted to slink off as inconspicuously as possible.

Kashini looked around, but he saw the same confused expression in everyone's faces, which probably meant they weren't the ones who sounded the announcement. Well, whatever. Whoever it was that was clearly trying to imitate a dying cat; they'd come.

For now, he'd observe.

"Miss Kirigiri, I'm sure you'd have to get to know others… at least know their names, yes?" Friday tilted his head, looking pleasantly at the Detective. Kirigiri sighed, trying her hardest to avert her gaze, but he had such bright blue eyes… a bit like one of her parents' friends. One she particularly disliked, but…

"Getting to know others leads to trusting," she muttered. "And trusting… eventually leads to betrayal… in a place like this." She glanced at the potted plant a few ways away. "Have you ever heard of Hope's Peak Academy?"

Friday frowned. "I don't think so…"

"Good." After a while of the blond staring curiously at her, she let out a resigned sigh. "I… am going to have to go and 'get to know' these people, won't I?"

"I'll help you?"

"Fine…"

So Friday cheerily led her to the first person nearest to them, who was conversing with a couple others. "Hello all!" he greeted. "Good day to you. I'm Friday Jones, Trapper." He gestured to Kirigiri to introduce herself, since the brunette looked a bit lost.

"My name? … Kirigiri Rin. Detective." She bowed politely. "It is, um. Good to meet you." _More like I don't really care…_

The girl with navy blue hair scrutinized Kirigiri and Friday for a moment, her silver eyes lingering on the Detective for a moment longer than proper, then smiled. "Well, you guys certainly don't look dangerous. Name's Takahashi Haruna, Soccer Player!"

The one in the dark blue trenchcoat and black yoga pants bowed, a bit more steadily than last time. "Suukoi Fuyu, Trainer. Zhis very nice to meet you."

The shortest among them, a girl with neck-length ponytailed black hair, scribbled quickly on her notebook before presenting it to the duo. "FenHuang Qi, Chessmaster. You can call me Phoenix, I suppose."

Friday nodded, smiling. "Well, it's very nice to meet you all. Have you any idea how we have gotten here?"

"Hmm…" Fuyu tilted her head, pondering over it. "Vell… I remember falling asleep in my bed after a hard day's training… and zhen I voke up in vone of those very nice hotel beds."

"Same," Qi wrote. "Besides the training part."

Takahashi nodded. "Yep, me too! There was that stuffed bear on my bed, too… if whoever brought us here is trying to make us more comfortable, it's not working!"

"You mean the black and white one I found?" a new, low-toned and yet adorable, voice asked. They turned around to face the newcomer, who had fairly tanned skin and chest-length brown hair neatly tied into a sidebraid. She smiled. "It was really quite lovely, if you ask me. Oh, but my name's Annabelle Celadon, the Gardener. It's wonderful to meet you."

**ANNABELLE CELADON**

**SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL GARDENER**

"I think I'll bring it with me when I get to go home," she said, clasping her white gloved hands together. "It'll be a lovely addition to my bed. I heard there was a pink and white stuffed bunny around here too! I'd love to go and look for it right now, but I'm afraid that will have to wait, I suppose."

_Naïve,_ Kirigiri thought instantly. _A bit like… the Programmer. Or the Swimmer?_

As Friday bid them their 'see you later's, he got her to learn how to strike up an actual conversation, and the Detective hesitantly tried it out on the next person she saw. He had short and messy brown hair with one spike noticeably sticking out (_Dad,_ Kirigiri found herself thinking, but shaking the thought away) and a dark red zip-up sweater. "Hello," she said as nicely as she could. Which, of course, made it come out emotionless. "Um. I'm… Kirigiri Rin. Detective. You?"

"Huh? Oh." The seventeen-year-old stared down at the shorter girl, somewhat amused at her height. "Hey. I'm Naratai Reed, the Artist. Guess it doesn't mean much now, though."

**NARATAI REED**

**SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL ARTIST**

"How… come?" His height, which was clearly 5'5" and above, irritated Kirigiri to no end. Curse her short stature! She managed to stay perfectly calm, of course. Kirigiri Rin was the very epitome of calm.

"Hm." He looked away coolly, hands shoved in pockets. "Well, we're trapped in some shit-ass hotel and now the asshole who called us here isn't even bothering to show up. What do you think?"

She frowned at his choice of swears. She had been raised by two parents who probably have never sworn in their life – well, one of them, anyway. But even that remained to be seen. "Even the most worthless-seeming talent can have some kind of use somehow, sometime, surely?"

"Maybe." Naratai let out a sigh. "Whatever. Don't you have somewhere else to be, kid?"

"I'm fourteen," she argued weakly.

"Yeah, and I'm a cupcake." He scoffed. "Now hurry up now. You and your little friend are going around introducing yourselves, yeah? No time to waste, then. That asshole of a captor is gonna show up anytime soon, now."

Kirigiri nodded slightly, turning to look at Friday for assistance. The blond merely shrugged helplessly and bid his goodbye to the Artist, before moving on to the next person.

The tall, thin man was certainly something that caught their eye. He was painted completely gold, with a gold suit and pants. He turned his bald head to look down at the short duo curiously.

"Hello," Friday greeted, happy as ever, though his eyes were slightly wider than usual. "I'm Friday Jones, Trapper. It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"Kirigiri Rin, Detective," she said curtly, bowing. "You?"

Bringing out a notepad, the golden man scribbled on it quickly and showed it to them, smiling somewhat. "Sorry, I'm mute, but it's nice to meet you two as well. The name's Maxwell, the Human Statue, but call me Goldy please."

**MAXWELL "GOLDY" TUNGSTON**

**SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL HUMAN STATUE**

"How come you're… um, well, gold?" Kirigiri asked. She waited patiently for Goldy to write down his answer and show it to her.

"I'm a performer of sorts," he explained. "And that's my talent, really. To stand still like a golden human statue."

"That's very interesting," Friday exclaimed, who looked genuinely curious. "I've never heard of a talent like that, but I think I've seen one of your performances on TV before. How do you do it?"

As Goldy and Friday 'conversed', Kirigiri wandered off a bit further. She'd done way too much talking than she was used to; she was tired of it all and just wanted to go back home. But no; _this_ had to happen, just like what her parents warned her, and now she had to find a way out of this and kick their captor's face. Which was probably a certain black and white bear…

"Nyaa–well, it looks like most of you unintelligent humans are finished being unintelligent humans, nya? Goodie good good!" A high-pitched squeaky voice that sounded like it was being broadcasted across the entirety of Japan echoed in the lobby. "It's just about time for me to make my graaaand entrance! Nyahahahaha!"

As soon as that creepily strange laugh finished, a black and white cat jumped out from behind the counter, doing a backflip while it was doing so. It was about the size of the stuffed bear from before, and if everyone hadn't seen it just move on its own, they would have thought it _was_ a stuffed cat.

One half was white, the other, black. The white side had the general look of a normal housecat, while the black half looked demonic, with its spiky red eye and grin that clearly showed its sharp, dangerous looking teeth. A tail with similar coloring flicked behind it, waving about like an actual sentient being.

"Nyahahaha~ all you stupid humans being _friends_ with each other make me laugh!" it exclaimed, clutching its stomach and letting out more 'nyahahahaha's all by itself. A few minutes later, Annabelle spoke up.

"Is that a talking stuffed animal? It's… kinda lovely, if you ask me." She held her hand up to her chin, smiling softly.

_Definitely the Swimmer,_ Kirigiri thought. The black-white cat had surprised her mildly, but certainly not as much as everybody else.

"What the hell? A talking stuffed cat?" Naratai yelled out. "Why the hell is that thing alive?"

"Well, of course I'm alive, dearest Nyaratai," the cat said, waving its paw in the air disapprovingly. "And I'm not a stuffed toy! I'm Mononeko! The manager of Hope's Peak Grand Hotel!"

* * *

**I'm so tired I literally cannot bring myself to write anything ever again and just curl up under my blanket and sleep forever. But anyway, here's an unexpected new chapter, introducing everyone but three OCs (who are still undergoing creation) and Mononeko! Dun dun duuuh. Also, I'd appreciate it if you guys start voting for who you want for Free Time Events (either via PM or reviews, I don't really care). Like this:**

**I want (this person) to spend time with (this person)! (Or something. You know. Vote for anyone, even your own OC, because why not.)**

**Also, tell me who you ship. Because I'm shipping everyone so hard it's painful.**

_**Marei, 25/1/14**_


	4. Beginning III

"A talking stuffed cat," Mikyoko deadpanned. "A talking stuffed cat. It's _alive_. It's _moving around on its own_. This is… This is _impossible_."

"I have just made the impossible possible, Mewkyoko!" the cat squeaked. It jumped from the counter and landed on a tall eighteen-year-old with blond and black-white hair. He tilted his head up at the cat, politely confused. Mononeko, in turn, pawed at the boy's ruffled hair and tumbled on his face. "Meow. Hi, Nyakarui!"

"Oh… hi?" he hesitantly petted the cat's head. It was metallic, which didn't come as much of a shock to him. He had already deduced it to be some sort of Artificial Intelligence in a machine.

**AKARUI AYANE**

**SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL ?**

"What the hell are you?" Akiyo asked, crossing his arms irritably. "This is too much improbability for one day. My head isn't supposed to be taking this kind of strain in a hotel of all places."

"How 'bout this?" With that, Takahashi slammed the back of the Basketball Player's head with surprising power. Akiyo let out a very rude word and started to squabble with the Soccer Player once more. Mononeko let out a 'nyahahahaha', silencing the two of them.

"Ooh, you humans are allll so funny! You're getting so very comfortable in this place, you know?" It squeaked out. "That's juuuust what I expect from my victims! Nyahahahaha!"

"V-Victims?" Fuyu repeated. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I mean exactly what I mean, Funyu," Mononeko said. It jumped off Akarui's head and landed on a seemingly seventeen-year-old with bright blue eyes and long flowing white hair. He giggled and reached up to carry the black and white cat in his arms. Mononeko purred contentedly. "Well now, see, at least _one_ of you little dears know how to treat a cat right! Isn't that right, now, Shinyuki?"

"Maybe." Shiyuki smiled.

**SHIYUKI KOUKI**

**SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL ANALYZER**

"Explain that properly," Kirigiri said through gritted teeth. "What do you mean by 'victims'?"

Mononeko let out a cattish sigh. "Why, _obviously_ it means you're all going to die in here, right? I mean, I thought humans these days would at least know something that obvious. Looks like cats are still the better race, isn't it?"

There was a collective gasp in the group.

"D-Die?"

"No way! I don't wanna die!"

"B-But, I… no, I…"

"_Explain!_" Kirigiri repeated, much forcefully this time. "You're not telling us the entire thing. You're dragging this out a bit too much, don't you think, you giant rip-off of Monokuma?"

"M-Monokuma?" Friday whispered. "Miss Kirigiri, what do you–" He was silenced by her palm.

Rolling its eyes, Mononeko continued. "Monokuma, you say? Bah. He's of the old generation! Cats are better than bears, you know. I just put him in your bedrooms 'cause he looked much cuter stuffed."

Kirigiri balled her fists.

"Alright, alright, nya! You're so impatient, mini-Kirigiri! You ought to be more like your precious daddy, yeah?" Mononeko shook its head. "Anyway. What I mean is that each and every single one of you in here is trapped!" It waved its paws around in the air like a mad cat. "Traaaapped, nya! Means you aren't goin' _nowhere_ outside of here! And you're staying here whether you like it or not…" It grinned, sending shivers down the eighteen teenagers. "… _forever_."

"Forever?!" Edward exclaimed, backing away in fright. "No way! That's against the law, isn't it? Shouldn't the police be–"

"The police ain't involved in this!" Mononeko angrily stated, jumping up and down in Shiyuki's arms. "They're too incompetent. And I made _sure_ they wouldn't be poking their noses in something like this, I tell you. They're _incapable_ of such things right now, should I say." It let out a 'nyahahaha'. "But that's beside the point, isn't it? You're trapped in this hotel for forever and you aren't getting out ever again!"

Just then did the truth seem to sink in. There was a chorus of yelling and exclamations and panicking – _will they ever get out? Will they ever see their families again? Will they live or die? Will they ever see the sun shine again?_

"Though… I guess there _is_ one thing." Mononeko leapt out of Shiyuki's arms, the Analyzer looking slightly disheartened. Silence pervaded the lobby once more, all focus entirely on the cat. "You have to kill someone _and_ get away with it. Then maybe you get to see the outside world. Nice deal, nya?" It laughed. "Then, I'm off! See you all, nya!" With that, it jumped back behind the counter and disappeared from sight. Takahashi ran over to look, then confirmed that the cat was indeed nowhere in sight.

The lobby burst into chaos. Kill or be killed? They didn't want that, they just wanted to be rid of this stupid nightmare, they want to go home, they want to see their friends and family they took for granted again, please God, please let us go–

"Stop, now!" A loud, commanding voice echoed throughout the lobby. A few murmuring whispers persevered, but those faded too. Akiyo stepped in front, arms crossed and a sizeable scowl on his face. "Look, panicking and worrying about what's going to happen to your little lives isn't going to do much of anything. Why not talk among ourselves, at least? Surely we have to gather our thoughts first so as to not make rash decisions we will surely regret."

There was another bout of muttering among the other seventeen students, but they eventually gathered in a circle of sorts and started talking.

"How do we know it's true?" Ezakiya asked. "What the cat is saying has no real proof in itself. Perhaps there are several exits in here and this is all just some one big joke."

"A pretty bad joke with no taste, if I say so myself," Mikyoko grumbled. "Who would kidnap eighteen kids, pretend to be a talking stuffed cat, tell everyone we're going to live here forever or die, and then jump out and say," she cleared her throat, then imitated an incredibly high-pitched, squeaky voice. "'Oh, you know, it was all just one big innocent joke, you know! No bad feelings, yeah?'"

Friday, who had been sitting next to her, chuckled nervously and scooted away a bit.

"Alright, then," Annabelle said. "Suppose this is all just one big joke, as you say so yourself. Then, how did the cat manage to just snatch us all from our homes without even giving us a bit of a twitch in our sleep? It seems a little bit too convenient for him, if you ask me. This seems to be a very intricate plan; I don't particularly think he'd rely on luck, you know?"

"Maybe he injected us with some sort of syringe that causes sleep," Kashini suggested. A couple nodded to that statement.

"But our parents would surely have noticed by now," Kato said. "They would have contacted the police and have them find us. Surely they'd have found our location already?"

Edward mulled it over for a bit, before responding. "Then he didn't leave any traces behind, did he? It would be hard for the police to track us down then, right?"

"… I suppose." Kato glowered at him threateningly, causing the Antique Collector to inch away slightly.

There was a clapping coming from the other side as all heads turned to look at Qi. She held up her notebook and the one closest to her, Takahashi, read it out loud. "Uh… 'To sum everything up, it seems as if we have been kidnapped by the controller of the cat. He had injected us with a sleep syringe to not awaken us and brought us to this place with nary a footprint. Our parents must have called for the police and they are searching for us, but they have yet to find us.'"

"That about sums it up, then." Ezakiya nodded.

"Shouldn't we set rules for ourselves?" Naratai suddenly asked. The question had seemingly come from out of nowhere, so many were surprised at the blatant question.

"C… Care to explain yourself, please?" Annabelle prompted, clearly confused.

The Artist shrugged. "Well, it's like… you heard what that cat said, right? That we have to kill someone without being found and get out. Someone might… might actually believe it and, you know… try to kill someone. So to prevent that, we should make up a couple rules to not make that happen. Ever, preferably."

"That's actually an okay plan," Mikyoko said, sounding somewhat surprised.

"What's with your tone of voice?" Naratai asked irritably.

"Anyway, he's right," Friday said hurriedly, steering the topic away from the two glaring teens. "Maybe we should set a curfew for ourselves. And in the morning, we could set up a meeting place to check if everyone's still there."

"Let's use the buffet area!" Takahashi announced, muttering something about how she could squeeze in some training before breakfast. "It's pretty close to the rooms we woke up in, right? So it'll be easy to get there without tripping over air."

"Tripping over air, now…?" Fuyu repeated.

"Well, we _would_ probably still be half asleep."

"Moving on," Akiyo sighed. "You mentioned something about a curfew. How about… no going out between nine pm to seven am? That should do. Then two of us could go and shut off all the lights to signal… what shall we call it? … Nighttime?"

"There are clocks in here, after all," Kato pointed out, gesturing to a high-quality grandfather's clock near the counter. It had a large, golden pendulum that swung from side to side hypnotically. "I can make it sound some kind of alarm to signal… 'Nighttime'."

"Hm… that does sound about right, then," Akiyo said. Straightening, he looked over the seventeen other students, who looked right back at him with varying emotions. "We'll meet together in the buffet area again tomorrow. It's later than I thought." He pointed at the grandfather's clock that showed it was already ten pm. "You all know your room numbers, right? Go to your room and sleep. You'll need it." He let out a tired kind of sigh.

"Why are you acting like our leader, anyway?" Naratai asked. His tone sounded irritated, but he had a genuinely curious look on his face. "We didn't even have a vote or anything."

The Basketball Player looked away. "… Humans need a leader," he said. "If they don't, they panic, and then they lose their sense of direction. So naturally, they need someone to follow, someone who knows what to do. And that someone is clearly me." He scoffed slightly in the last part. "Now hurry up, or God knows what will happen to you."

* * *

**I return as the SHSL Slacker! Hella. And just one more OC. One more...**

**Next chapter ****_might _****be the Free Time chapter. Or not. Who knows.**

**EDIT: Here's a 1/3 sprite sheet of Kirigiri, Friday, Qi, Fuyu, Akiyo, and Naratai!**

** /J6 iu Fg a. jp g then add im gu r. com before it. (do remove spaces.)  
**

_**Marei, 9/2/14**_


	5. Interlude: Resized

**EDIT: Extremely important edit made below in the scene with Qi and Goldy. Damn it, I really screwed up there. I was supposed to have that scene for later! ... If either of them survive, anyway.**

* * *

Kirigiri was awoken by a very loud string of profanities she didn't know one could even say in a single breath.

Honestly, she didn't need this first thing in the morning. Last night, Mononeko had come to her room and gave her some sort of 'Electro ID' – he told her that it showed information about herself and the other teens in the hotel. She couldn't really bring herself to care about things like that, but, well, whatever. More extras for her, she supposed.

Hearing the curses, however, made her stop short and try to find out who caused it. It… sounded somewhat like… the Artist. Or maybe the Basketball Player, she didn't know. But it sounded higher than usual, squeakier, even…

She swung her legs off the bed and opened up her door to investigate.

Outside, she only noticed a certain someone up and about already as well. Kirigiri could see Annabelle carrying around a potted plant, humming happily to herself. She didn't seem to have noticed the yell, which confused the detective… if she had heard it all the way from her room, shouldn't she have, as well?

"Oh! Kirigiri-san." Annabelle approached her, the plant sprout bouncing slightly. "Did you hear that? Someone must have tripped over themselves in their room. Naratai-kun, maybe?"

So her previous guess was correct… though she still couldn't be sure. And why wasn't the gardener surprised or anything? She was even smiling, like she could trust Kirigiri with her life. Commendable, somewhat.

"Probably." She shrugged. "I was… about to take a look. What about you?"

She pondered over it for a moment, before nodding happily. "Why not? I'm sure it will be lovely!"

Kirigiri resisted the urge to ask Annabelle what her definition of 'lovely' was before opening the door to Naratai's room.

* * *

"Fuck everything ever. I hate this. I hate this shit. Someone get that motherfucking cat here and let me tear the fucking thing to _shreds!_"

Kirigiri struggled to keep her laugh in as she looked over the now thumb-sized Naratai on Annabelle's palm. Apparently, the artist had turned tinier – _much tinier_, the detective thought with relish – overnight, leaving him with not even a tenth of his original height. Kirigiri thought it was incredibly mysterious, incredibly confusing, incredibly amusing, and incredibly self-satisfying. Annabelle thought it was plain adorable.

"Oh, look at you!" she gushed, cradling the tiny Naratai in her hands. "You're so cute you can pass for a garden decoration if you just stand still! How wonderful!"

"_Do_ let go of me," Naratai deadpanned. After another couple seconds of Annabelle's cooing, he proceeded to bash his fists on her gloved palms. She didn't seem to notice.

"HEY!" A loud yell sounded. Kirigiri turned to look over at the soccer player who had seemingly just appeared there at Naratai's doorway. She was covered head to toe with thumb-sized teens, all scrambling around and trying to not fall off Takahashi's shoulders. A tiny Akiyo grumbled under his breath as he crawled atop Takahashi's head. "D'you know what happened here? I woke up and went from room to room to wake the others up but then these tiny people are…"

Her jaw dropped as she stared at the small Naratai. Said artist bared his teeth at her, the glare sending a very obvious message; _I didn't ask for this so just pretend the gardener _isn't_ pinching my cheek._

"O… kay." Takahashi shook her head. "Anyway! S-So, what do we do now? Everyone's – or well, nearly everyone's – turned into these… tiny… people! And I have no idea what to do with them!" she started jumping around and flailing like a mad woman. Several of the 'tiny people' (which consisted of Qi, Fuyu, Akiyo, and Hidaki) started shouting both curses and fearful screams. Except Qi, who simply flapped her arms around in an attempt to grab on to something.

"Holy _fuck_," Naratai yelled. "Stop looking like a duck who just heard it's on the menu for dinner in a shitty restaurant! Just calm the fuck down and get the motherfucking cat here. Ah, what the shit… I hate everything…"

"Even me?" Annabelle giggled.

"_Especially _you. Now unhand me!"

"Someone called, nya?"

"_FUCK, I – _you! It's you! It's you, you motherfucking piece of shit! Get your fucking metal ass over here right now and let me kick it senseless!" Naratai jumped about on Annabelle's palm, his face flushed red from both embarrassment and anger at the black-and-white cat that had just appeared out of nowhere. "What the fuck did you do to me? Answer me! I deserve one, you shit!"

"Wow, nya! Calm down, Nyaratai!" Mononeko yelped, putting its paws up in mock surrender. "I was just messing around with my new control panel. I mean, it just arrived yesterday, you know?" It whipped out a small calculator-like machine of sorts, filled with buttons of all kinds. "It's suuuuuper fun to play with, nya! Just don't touch it. It electrocutes anyone who bothers to death!"

Takahashi stared incredulously at the cat. "You know that-"

"I don't care about some rubber or nothin'!" Mononeko interjected quickly. "Anyways, I'll leave you guys like that for today. It's just _wonderful_ to see you all so hopeful, nyahahahaha! Rest assured, though, despair will come soon enough. Ya'll just have to wait and see! Nyahahaha!"

With that, he was gone in the blink of an eye. Naratai attempted to jump off Annabelle's palms and search for the cat himself, but one look downwards and he skittered back to the center of her hands. The gardener hummed cheerily to herself as she petted the artist's head.

"So… what're we gonna do about this?" Takahashi asked. "With them being all… tiny and stuff… is there anything we can do?"

"Yes," Kirigiri confirmed. "Get to know one another."

There was a long pause.

"… Sorry?" The soccer player's eyes were wide with surprise. "You said…?"

"Get to know one another," Kirigiri patiently repeated. She was being incredibly hypocritical, but… this was as good a time as any. "I won't bother with you all, but it would be a good idea to get to know one another. That way, it could prevent murders from occurring and all, and could foil Mononeko's plans. It'll all work out in the end. You just have to keep hoping."

"Hope, hm…" Annabelle murmured, rolling the word around her tongue like she was eating a particularly tasty treat. "That's quite the lovely word, isn't it? I suppose it's a good enough idea. We could wander around and investigate the other areas of the hotel while we're at it, too, I guess."

"That's true!" Takahashi piped up. "We could secure the dangerous stuff while we're at it, too. You know, like the knives and sharp things."

"And what do I do?" Naratai asked, clearly annoyed.

"Sit there and look cute while the girls do everything," Kirigiri deadpanned.

Silence.

"… I meant to say yes, you should probably help." The detective sighed.

* * *

"Oh my God, I'm tiny," Mikyoko squeaked. "I'm _tiny_. Or did everything just get bigger?"

"You're tiny," Ezakiya confirmed, shifting a bit as the tiny Mikyoko scuttled around on his shoulders and playing with his hair. "… Mikyoko-san. Please, not the hair. You've ruined my clothes enough as it is."

"Who cares?" the forensic analyst replied. She swung around on a stray strand of hair and jumped up to land on the top of his head. "Oh, damn! I just rocked that move. Being tiny is fun." She stumbled a bit, falling on top of Ezakiya's already outstretched palms. "… Ouch. Oh, hey, gloves."

Ezakiya sighed. "Yes. Gloves. Kirigiri-san, Annabelle, and a couple others have them as well, if you were not aware of that."

"Whatever." She scrambled up the sleeve of his partially buttoned white blazer and back onto his shoulders, before finally settling down and swinging her legs to and fro. "God. Aren't I supposed to be angry? Pretty weird you got to my room before anyone else and made me… un-angry. Sorta."

"Yes, yes," he patiently said. "Un-angry is absolutely a word fit to be in a forensic analyst's vocabulary. You never cease to impress me, Mikyoko-san."

"Shut up, you failure of a plastic surgeon. Hey, nice hair."

"… Thank you. I suppose."

* * *

Akarui and Shiyane were both running around and being cute, for almost-adult teens anyway. It wouldn't have been too much of a problem if it wasn't for the fact that they were both really small and tripping over everything ever.

A tiny Kato Miharu and Edward watched over the hyperactive duo as they scrambled around, peeking at who-knows-what. Kato let out a resigned sigh and proceeded to climb up Edward's arm. The antique collector had been sitting up before this, so he had jumped slightly once he felt the sudden coldness on his left arm. "What the he- oh. Kato?"

"Don't mind me," she muttered. "I'm just going to make myself comfortable on your mop hair."

"My hair is _not_ a mop," he huffed.

"Clearly." Kato reached his shoulders before deciding that she was too tired to bother and peered down at the two playing teens. "So. … What are you going to do about them? You could look away for one second and they might as well have adopted a pet dog and named it Richard. Are you going to keep these two until they're back to actual people?"

"Obviously not. Can't you at least _try _to use your brain?" He scoffed. "I'm handing them over to Kirigiri. She looks competent enough to handle these two. Plus, I'm not much of a babysitter."

"Then why don't you give them to Hidaki-san?" Kato raised an eyebrow.

"Because with her title of babysitter, I'm willing to bet she has half the people in here under her care already." Edward picked up Shiyuki by the waist. "So-"

"Hidaka-san!" the boy giggled. "Look, look. I'm tiny! Small, see? You can even carry me up! Heehee!"

Below, Akarui clambered up to Edward's other shoulder and proceeded to poke the antique collector's cheek. "I think I'm supposed to be mad about this, but for some reason, I can't bring myself to care anymore…"

Kato raised another eyebrow at him expectantly.

"…" Edward set Shiyuki back down, who stumbled his way on the antique collector's lap and run around in circles. "Okay, maybe later."

"I thought so."

* * *

"Wow. Zhis… looks like a pretty unlikely trio, isn't it?" Fuyu cocked her head from her spot in Takahashi's school uniform pocket. "The Babysitter, the Human Statue, and uhh… the Psychologist. Curious."

"Oh, keep quiet, blondie," Hidaki muttered, clearly disgruntled. "I had to deal with nearly three fourths of all the people in this hotel before I gave them all for _other_ people to take care of. Gosh! There's just these three, who… do not look like they want to be moving anytime soon, apparently."

"Apparently," Akiyo started, arms crossed already. "These three you speak of are hardly a challenge to keep under control. Have you _seen_ Hidaka? He looks like he's going to give up and kill someone just to get away from the ones he's in charge of."

There was an awkward silence in which they were all reminded of the situation they were currently in. Akiyo cursed himself internally, remembering he was supposed to be the leader of the group, not someone who constantly reminded others that this wasn't what it looked like.

"… Fuck, okay, I'm sorry and all," he grunted. "Look, though. The cat said this'll all be over in another day. So let's just deal with it and stay here until Nighttime. At least we're guaranteed safety in here."

The others agreed, and they eventually settled back down. Hidaki was situated in the rather small infirmary, where it was almost completely bare except for a couple of hospital beds, a small fridge for blood packs, a few cabinets for medicine, and another kind of machine that neither Takahashi nor Hidaki bothered to try and find out.

The two girls who were still fully sized chatted a bit while the others played around with the rest. Qi and Goldy (inevitably) started 'talking', while the rest started playing some sort of makeshift ball game with a roll of tissue Hidaki gave them.

"How do you do in your performances?" Qi scribbled. "I'm a bit curious… do the other performers do union tricks with you or the like?"

"Somewhat, yes," Goldy replied. "It's a bit like I stand there and they try to make my move. Put a ring of fire around me, douse me in 'acid', or stab me in the heart with a sword." He noticed his last sentence made Qi's eyes widen, and he hurried to add, "Fake, of course."

The Chessmaster nodded. "Right. But when you're backstage, don't you need attention to yourself if you need to speak? It is quite noisy and all, isn't it?"

"Yes." Goldy smiled as he wrote. "That's why I have this." He dug out a small golden (_of course,_ Qi thought) bell that dangled from his wrist via a golden yellow strap. It chimed harmoniously, and the Chessmaster found herself gazing at it with envy and awe. She never really bothered to get one, but now that she saw a bell, she realized that would have been extremely helpful in certain parts of her life. "It's a very nice kind of bell. My mentor, Dustin Forth – he gave this to me before we parted ways. It's very precious to me."

"I see…" Qi nodded. If she could speak, she would have been breathing her statement. "It does sound quite nice… I wonder. If we ever get out of here, I would like to buy one."

He eyed the bell with some kind of emotion in his eyes – she wasn't sure, but it looked a bit like affection of some sort – and pocketed it once more. "Yes… they're actually not that hard to find. I think many antique stores and the like have a variety of this."

She nodded – her head was starting to hurt now, actually. Curse her muteness. "Alright. Thank you for the suggestion."

Just then, a loud static noise came from some sort of hidden speaker in the room. Qi looked up dizzily, the bright fluorescent lights blinding her. She would have thought a hotel like this would have a better infirmary – well, whatever. It _was_ a room for the sick and/or injured. She supposed it wouldn't really matter.

Back to the point, she looked around, trying to find out where the sound was coming from, but it seemed to resound everywhere. A nauseatingly familiar 'nyahahahaha!' rebounded everywhere in the tiny room. "Everyone's getting along _purr_fectly, nya~? Well _too bad_, but I've got something to tell ya all! Head over to the lobby, now, why don't nya?" With that, there was a _pweep _noise and the room went quiet once more.

"Well." Kashini's voice, which was usually low and emotionless, sounded a bit squeakier now. The room was so silent one could hear Takahashi trying (and failing) to stifle her laugh. "It appears as if we are obligated to go over to the lobby, now. I do not particularly think the cat wants us to stay for long."

For some reason, Qi had a particularly bad feeling about this. And after a quick glance over at the person beside her, she confirmed that Goldy was, too.

* * *

**I'm... ****_not_**** sorry. Actually okay, maybe I am. A little bit. **

**Anyway. I probably neglected a few others their screentime, but I don't even remember when I wrote this. Probably like, what, last week? But I didn't get to use my computer for quite some time, so I couldn't put this chapter up. Meh, whatever.**

**So! Fun stuff first before everyone starts dying. Mild platonic (-ish) shipping here and there, and the idea of chibi Naratai was too cute. So, putting this up before our first victim of the fic. Hint: "The trust of the innocent is the liar's most useful tool." for Victim. And for Culprit, "There are no desperate situations. There are only desperate people."**

**I get the feeling this quote hint thing is gonna happen a lot in the long run. Well, anyway, go ahead and guess! The next chapter will have the first death... gah. It physically pains me to do so.**

_**Marei, 21/2/14**_


	6. Motive I

"W-Why are we here again?" Friday asked. He was one of the first to arrive in the lobby, and along with him were Kirigiri, Annabelle, and Naratai (who, incidentally, was still tiny and on the gardener's palm). "Mononeko told us to come here. So… why?"

"To announce something, most likely." Kirigiri looked to the side, then back at him. "How about you? Where have you been? None of us had seen you around anywhere, you know."

"Ah." Friday gulped. "Erm… in my room. I was looking around to see if there were any clues to how we got here… couldn't find much of anything, though. Just some weird old metal box that's got more than a century's worth of dust in it." He shrugged. "Found it in my closet. You'd think that cat would be more careful in where he puts his stuff…"

"A box?" Annabelle tilted her head. "I wonder. What was inside it?"

The trapper's shoulders slumped. "It was locked… I tried picking it open, but the thing's probably rusted beyond belief. I _really_ don't want to know." Under his breath, he grumbled, "It's probably dated back to, like, the 1800's. Gosh, will it do Mononeko any pain to at least try to keep up with the generation? It's 2029, for God's sake…"

"What, seriously?" Naratai barked out a laugh. "A box? With a _lock_ – not a fingerprint scanner or anything?"

Friday shook his head.

"Wow." The Artist rolled his eyes, relaxing back on Annabelle's palm. "That _is_ a shit-ass box. I am impressed, Mononeko. You are one shitty host."

Silence.

"… I admit that I half-expected him to come busting through here and shriek 'I AM AN AWESOME SAUCE HOST, NYA!', but I suppose not," Kirigiri said. Friday inched away from her discreetly.

Another half hour later, the rest of the teens arrived, and there was chatting here and there, especially with Takahashi and Kohaku's group. Everyone else was either fawning or snickering over at the resized victims of Mononeko. Speaking of…

"Nya~!" A familiar sound came from the counter as the black and white cat came somersaulting out from behind it. Shiyuki gazed at Mononeko with awe as it struck a pose on the ground. "You like it? I was working on that for a while!"

Edward massaged his temple. "Just tell us what you need to tell us. I feel a headache just looking at you."

"Mm… you hurt me so, Hidanya." Nevertheless, Mononeko straightened itself and jumped back on the counter. "So! I have an announcement for all you kids. Seeing as I'm really! Really! _Really! _Impatient, I'm going to _make_ you guys kill each other. For real!"

Its words were met with silence. Mononeko slumped down. "… I was expecting more of a reaction?"

"Oh no." Mikyoko monotoned. "Dear me. The cat is going to make us kill each other. Whatever shall we do? We're doomed. What will happen next, will he throw a salmon on us? Or will he gently place trout on our heads? We're all going to die. Ahh. Oh no. Ahh. Help us."

Ezakiya calmly smacked the back of the forensic analyst's head. She let out a very rude word and kicked her offender in the shins. Ezakiya didn't so much as blink.

"… Anyway." Mononeko stared at Mikyoko for a bit before continuing. "Meow, what I mean to say is… I have a motive for you guys to kill each other!"

"Motive…?" Takahashi repeated cautiously. "What'd ya mean?"

"I mean that I'm gonna give you all reasons to kill each other! So let's say… I'll turn you all into cockroaches and step on you guys one by one unless you kill someone in the next 24 hours!"

"Y-You can do that?! The fuck…?!" Akiyo exclaimed. "With that… that thing of yours or whatever?"

"What, this?" The cat whipped out the square gray pad from earlier. It had numerous buttons on it, as well as a mini keyboard on the side. "It's my super special control panel! It just came yesterday. Do you like it? I made you all tiny thanks to this baby!"

"Is such a thing even possible…?" Kato muttered.

Mononeko shrugged. "No idea. But it's been fun to play with so far! Good for passing the time. Sort of." He stuffed the control panel back at the shelves on the counter and got back into pose once more. "So! Getting back to my point, I'm gonna give you guys a motive! Can you guess? Can any of you guess this _despair_-inducing motive I just thought of? Can you, can you, can you?"

"Something related to torture?" Kashini said.

"Bingo! We have a winner!" Mononeko meowed. "Specifically… Unless someone kills within 24 hours, I'm going to brutally torture the person you _are currently most connected to!_"

There were a few gasps and yelps, but nothing too over the top. Mononeko frowned slightly. "… What's wrong, kiddies? Why isn't anyone despairing?"

"Um… maybe because we didn't understand you?" Akarui suggested. "You can… elaborate."

"Ugh, fine." With a whoosh, seventeen envelopes appeared out of nowhere and landed on the floor, right in front of certain people. "There! Open those up! Then we'll see exactly what will drive you guys to kill someone… nyahahaha!"

Kirigiri hesitantly scooped her envelope up. It was a pristine white, with a red seal shaped like a paw-print and had her name on it in fancy script. Her fingers rested on the seal for a moment, before she bit her lip and stuffed it in her pocket.

"W-What–!" Annabelle gasped. Her envelope was open, and Kirigiri spotted a few pictures falling to the ground. The gardener had covered her mouth with her gloved palm, eyes wide and her face pale. "I-I…! No, he can't…" Her gaze flickered to Naratai for a moment, before she turned to look at Kirigiri. "K-Kirigiri-san… d-don't…"

"What? What the hell is happening?" Naratai squeaked. His envelope was on the ground, far out of reach (and even if he did manage to reach it, it was too big for him to open). "What's the matter with you? What was inside?"

"Naratai-kun!" she suddenly said. The artist jumped, clearly surprised – Annabelle did not usually raise her voice. "Don't… don't open up your envelope, alright? D-Don't. It's… for your own good."

He hesitated for a bit, before slowly nodding. "Uh… um, right. Okay."

Following Annabelle, there was a multitude of screams and gasps (excluding Qi and Goldy, who widened their eyes). Hidaki had let out a yelp as she looked at the photos, her eyes widening and her skin paling alarmingly quickly. Ezakiya and Mikyoko had a similar expression – indifference – though Mikyoko did raise an eyebrow.

"And that's it!" Mononeko grinned. "That's what's gonna happen to your loved ones if you don't kill someone – and fast! I did give you guys a time limit. Well, I'm off!" Before he jumped back to the counter, however, he turned and faced the teens with his black side. "And I'm expecting a _loooot_ of blood later on… nyahahahaha!"

And then he was gone, with his sinister laugh echoing in the lobby.

Instantly, there was screaming and shouting to get out, get out, get out get out get out, I can't take this anymore, _help me_ –

And once again, someone took up charge.

"Everyone, _calm down!_" Akiyo yelled. The lobby went quiet, save for a few pants and gasping. "Look. It won't do anyone any good to start panicking now, _again_. Why don't we all just calm down, and think rationally. How can the cat find each of those people in less than a minute if we don't kill? And those photos; they're easy to photoshop. Take a picture of them sleeping of something, add special effects – they can fool anyone."

"B-But how'd he find them in the first place?" Shiyuki stammered. He was clutching onto his photos like his life depended on them. "If he got pictures of 'em, then he could find them again, right?"

"He probably got them from the internet," Takahashi said. "Or he found others that look the same to these people and used them instead…?"

A bell rang, clear and loud, throughout the lobby. They all turned to the direction of the source, which turned out to be Goldy. Qi, however, put up her notepad instead.

"There remains the slight chance that these could be real and he knows them and these are warnings that this will happen to them if we do not kill," Edward read. His wrinkled his nose at the negative comment. "Well, I guess that's true, but… that's a bit harsh."

"It's almost Nighttime, too," Friday mused. "Should we get back to our rooms? Me and Miss Kato are in charge of turning the lights off tonight. And I'm sure everyone wants to get back to normal…" he laughed nervously.

Under Kato's breath, she muttered something about 'it's 'Miss Kato and I', trapper…'.

"That settles it, I guess," Akiyo said. He glanced from face to face, eyeing the ones who looked most unnerved. "For everything that is good, _do not_ kill somebody else. I guarantee you will regret it."

It took a few more minutes for the rest of them to disperse and head back to their rooms, but everyone eventually went back. All except for one.

* * *

**Ahh! Our internet finally returned! Hallelujah! I managed to finish two chapters today, thanks to boredom, but I think I'll put up the other chapter tomorrow. For now, I'll play some Touhoumon and write up another DR SYOC. Go check it out!**

_**Marei, 1/3/14**_


	7. Victim I

Morning came quick. Maybe a bit too quickly for comfort.

Kirigiri let out a deep sigh and sat up on her bed. Yesterday had been a whirl of events, including the resizing of certain people and…

The motive.

The crinkling of paper resounded though her quiet room as Kirigiri took out the envelope that had been crushed in her pocket. Although not as fancy-looking as last time, it still looked professional to the point she was incredibly tempted to open it. With shaking fingers at the very thought of what she may see, she crushed it into a ball and threw it in the trash can with commendable aim.

Kirigiri Rin was not going to fall for the Despair Mastermind's plans. She was not the daughter of two survivors of a mutual killing for nothing.

It hadn't been twenty four hours yet, so Mononeko's soon-to-be victims weren't 'brutally tortured' yet. That also meant the clock was still ticking down the hours until the time limit eventually ended, which meant…

She shook her head. The Basketball Player was right; she shouldn't let Mononeko's words get to her head. She was _the_ super high school level Detective – she should have a clear mind, with no other thoughts clouding it up. She swung her feet off the bed and walked outside towards the buffet area.

* * *

"Yo, Kohacchi!" Takahashi called as she bounced to the tired-looking Babysitter. "We're cleaning up the place t' make sure no potential weapons are lying around. Wanna help? You don't look all there, though…"

"Hunh?" Hidaki rubbed her eyes roughly, before forcing them open, although they still looked foggy and unfocused. "Oh. Yeah… sure."

"Great-o!" The Soccer Player grinned, hands behind her head. "You're in charge of the blunt objects." She frowned. "I'm not sure what counts as a blunt object, but just get anything that looks hard enough to kill a person and stuff it in this sack." Takahashi held out a brown woolen sack that looked like it had seen some years. "G'luck! Oh, and don't go near Fuyucchi. At all. She's handling the sharp stuff. You really do not want to go near her."

With that, Takahashi bounded away to the other side of the buffet area, leaving Hidaki alone with her sack. The Babysitter yawned, before surveying her surroundings. Qi was scooping up a couple of broken pieces of what looked like a plate on the ground and placing them in a garbage sack. Kato and Ezakiya were checking under the tables and inside the cabinets, and occasionally piping up whenever they found something interesting. Kashini looked as if he was simply standing there, back against the wall, but his gaze was trained on a large table with several old boxes that had more than a couple layers of dust.

Hidaki's eyes found Fuyu soon enough, and she winced. The Trainer was scrambling to catch a small knife that had escaped her grasp, and it ended up stabbing her on the toe. A shrill scream came from the blonde, and seconds later, she was on the ground, sack beside her, while she was letting out a sigh.

The Babysitter immediately started searching across the room, far away from what looked like a danger hazard.

* * *

The wall clock chimed once it was exactly seven thirty, around the same time the latecomer Mikyoko stumbled in. She took a seat in between Fuyu and Ezakiya, mumbling something about going back to sleep before her head hit the table with a resounding thud. Ezakiya rolled his eyes.

"Is everyone here?" Akiyo asked. Although he spoke first, his voice was slightly slurred and his eyes were a bit unfocused. He clearly didn't get much sleep, like everyone else. "Let's see, Akarui, Hidaka, Celadon… … where's the Human Statue guy – Tungston?"

"I wouldn't pin him for a late waker," Friday murmured. "If anything, I thought he'd wake up pretty early…"

"I'll look," Naratai grumbled. When everyone turned to look at him, he jabbed a thumb at Qi, who was holding up her notepad. Everyone unanimously gave out a sigh of relief. The Artist raised an eyebrow. "I was speaking for myself, too, you know."

In the end, Naratai, Shiyuki, and Qi went off to look for Goldy while everyone else discussed the matter at hand.

"First of all, we need to do something about the motive Mononeko gave us," Akiyo said. "If we keep ourselves under control, we should be able to avoid conflict or any… dare I say, killing."

"B-But Mister Tungston isn't here…" Friday nervously brought up. "He could be, you know…"

"Surely not…?" Annabelle's eyes widened. "Who would, right–?"

"**Ding-a-ling-a-ling~! A body has been found! There will be a period of investigation before the Hotel Trial starts. Good luck, you bastards! Nyahahahaha!**"

* * *

_No._

It couldn't be.

_No._

She couldn't believe it.

_No. Please, no. _

It had happened.

_This can't be happening._

No.

_No–_

"Qi! Snap out of it!"

The Chessmaster's eyes refocused as she took in the scene in front of her. Naratai, who was beside her, backed away with gritted teeth. Shiyuki had yelped, then let out a frightened scream.

Lying in a pool of his own blood, the teen lay in an awkward position, as if he had just fallen over. There was a large rip at the back of his suit, like something had torn straight through it and cut deep into his back. A small, circular item lay next to him, as well as several pieces of torn paper.

Maxwell Tungston, the super high school level Human Statue, was laying there and looking quite dead.

* * *

It didn't take the others too long to find and gather in the lobby once more. Mononeko had shown up behind the counter once again, watching the teens as they talked. After a few minutes passed, the black and white cat jumped off the counter and landed on Qi's head. "Okay, nya! Think it's time to explain the Hotel Trial rules to you guys, mhm?"

"H-Hotel Trial? We're having a _trial_ about all this?!" Hidaki said.

"Yup, yup~ so, let me explain. In a Hotel Trial, you guys will have to try and find out who killed lil' Goldy. Before that, a'course, there'll be a period of time in which you can search for evidence to find out who the killer might be. I won't restrict your movements, so you can look around anywhere." Mononeko paused. "Ah. To help with your investigation, I've prepared something called the Mononeko File #1!" In a flash, it had whipped out its control panel once more and pressed a button. Instantly, several _ding_ noises echoed in the lobby, and the teens hurriedly took out the source of the sound – their Electro IDs. "This file displays the cause of death, the areas where the victim has been hurt, the time of death, the place of death, and the time when you found the body."

"How do you know all of this?" Akarui asked suspiciously.

"Well, for starters, you really do not underestimate me." Mononeko shrugged. "This is _my_ domain. I know all the ins and outs of this place, you hear?"

"What I'd want to know more is how you just shrugged," Mikyoko muttered. "Cats don't shrug."

Mononeko meowed. "Secrets of the trade, kiddie! Well, during the Hotel Trial, things will work this way. So say, if Annyabelle had killed Nyaratai…"

"W-What? Why me?" Naratai protested. Annabelle, on the other hand, remained silent.

"… and if you guys find out that Annabelle was the real killer, then she'll be executed! As in, brutally killed in unusual ways."

The Gardener winced.

"But if, say, you guys vote for mini-Kirigiri to be the killer, then everyone but Annyabelle will be starved to death! Meanwhile, Annyabelle gets to escape this Hotel Life of Mutual Killing! You get?" Mononeko grinned.

"… I-I still can't believe somebody actually killed someone…" Friday stuttered, hugging himself. "It's frightening to think that someone among us is a killer…"

"There's the possibility somebody is secretly a super high school level Serial Killer," Kashini calmly piped up. Friday yelped.

"And you! How can you stay so c-calm?!" Takahashi said, pointing at the Psychologist. "Someone just _died_, for God's sake! At least _try _to be sympathetic! Or learn to read the mood! You don't go saying stuff like that!"

Kashini eyed the Soccer Player with a sharp glare. "Look. I don't care about the mood. Nor do I care about being sympathetic. Such feelings are only a nuisance. They only serve to hamper you and prevent you from doing rational things. So what if someone died? So what if they're gone forever and they're never coming back? It doesn't change the fact that we're still here and we're still going to have to face reality. Feelings like that – they're going to bring you down and you're going to regret it."

"Well if I'm going down," Takahashi bit her lip. "then I'm at least going to bring you down with me!"

There was suddenly the chiming of a bell. It was a melodious, relaxing sound – entirely different from the argument that had suddenly escalated to a wild level. Everyone turned to look at Qi, who had her notepad up and her head down, eyes shadowed.

"And there also remains the fact that Goldy is dead and we have to find out who killed him," Naratai read. "We can save the arguments for later. They're not important right now. What is important is that we find his killer and make sure they're brought to justice." He paused. "… Both arguing parties, to be fair, have a point. Thinking rationally and reasonably is going to help us in the investigation and Hotel Trial. But bringing feelings and emotions into the conversation and adjusting them to fit the situation is one good reason someone would kill somebody else. I'm sure everyone knows what the feeling of desperation and despair mixed with each other is."

There was silence as everyone comprehended Qi's written words. The Chessmaster swallowed, and placed the golden bell back in her blazer pocket.

"… The girl is right," Akiyo spoke up. "We can focus on the arguing for later, in an actual trial. For now, we have to put our undivided attention to the matter at hand; investigating. Let us split up into groups of three to prevent any more unwanted killing. Now, I believe the investigating begins now." With no other words, he started arranging the others into groups.

"Tch. I'm going to investigate alone," Naratai said. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he started walking away from the other teens.

"N-Naratai-kun? How come?" Annabelle asked, cautiously approaching him. The Artist glared at her a bit.

"Because I can't trust any of you."

And then the cold reality of their situation hit them face-first; no one could trust anyone. They were in a life of mutual killing, and no one was stopping them.

* * *

**As promised, here's the seventh chapter of TSWNS! And we have our first victim, Goldy. Ehh... it was hard trying to pick who to kill, considering the complexity of the Mastermind, but... well. Also it seems that Qi has his bell ****_now_****, this time. Pretty important evidence.**

**See ya next week! Exams are almost over, so I'm free Thursday, Friday, Saturday, ****_and_**** Sunday! Quite a record if I do say so myself. I won't be very busy either for the remainder of March until... June? Since it's summer vacation. HAPPY IS I. Well, time to work on FLoMK now.**

_**Marei, 2/3/14**_


	8. Investigation I

In the end, Kirigiri had gotten stuck with Hidaki and Kashini. She didn't care much for the Babysitter, who looked shaken with it all, but the Psychologist intrigued her a bit.

"A super high school level Serial Killer?" she said. Kashini glanced at her.

"It's quite possible," he replied simply. Kirigiri expected him to say more, but he looked ahead, seemingly not wanting to say anything else. The detective shrugged and left him.

"Oh. K-Kirigiri-san." She turned to look at Hidaki, who let out a sigh before continuing. "Um… s, so, how do you do all this? You're a detective, right? So, investigating… I'm not sure how you go about this…"

"Walk around, find clues, remember them, and bring them up when needed at the trial," Kirigiri responded bluntly. The Babysitter appeared stunned for a moment, before nodding unsurely and hesitantly bringing out her Electro ID.

It was the first close observation Kirigiri had seen of the strange device. It was a lot like one of the more recent phones, with a hologram projector and all that, but it seemed to lack the mail, phoning, messaging, and all other communicating applications. Kirigiri wasn't expecting any, so she was fine with that.

Hidaki clumsily pressed a couple buttons and a black-and-blue hologram popped up. On the top, it was titled 'MONONEKO FILE #1' in big, bold letters. Below that was a diagram of what looked like Goldy with a splotch of blood on his chest. Next to that, it read:

_**Cause of Death: A stab through the chest. Presumably caused by a sharp object.**_

_**Hurt Areas: chest**_

_**Time of Death: 23:57 – 11:57 PM**_

_**Place of Death: first floor, hallway **_

_**Body Discovery Time: 8:34 AM**_

Hidaki wrinkled her nose. "Isn't that strange?"

"Yes, it is." Kirigiri took out her own Electro ID and examined the hologram thoroughly.

"E-Eh? I didn't even tell you yet," Hidaki said in surprise. "I mean, the place of death was near our rooms, right? Someone should definitely have noticed his body…"

Kirigiri ignored her and continued mulling to herself. "A stab through the chest… from the front or back? Mm…" She suddenly tilted her head upwards. "Hidaki."

"… Yes…?"

"Is that a knife you have under your seifuku?"

"Oh, yeah." The Babysitter pulled the knife out, the shining blade reflecting in the light. "I needed it to help me cut my bandages. I was in the cafeteria at that time, so I figured it wouldn't hurt."

"It's…" Kirigiri eyed it. "Why does it have dried blood on it?"

Hidaki rubbed the back of her head sheepishly with a nervous laugh. "I'm not the best at handling the thing."

**EVIDENCE BULLET: Mononeko File #1**

**EVIDENCE BULLET: Place of Death**

**EVIDENCE BULLET: Hidaki's Testimony**

Ezakiya eyed the body with clear interest. "Hm…"

"Are you just going to stare at him or what?" Mikyoko snapped. To be honest, she felt a bit queasy looking at the dead body, but she would have to deal with it. Maybe after all of this was over, they could get out…

"How did he die?" Ezakiya asked all of a sudden. The Forensic Analyst raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, he got stabbed. In the chest. With a sharp object." She glared pointedly at him. "Hello – Mononeko File?"

"No, I mean…" The Plastic Surgeon neared the body slightly. "He's laying on his stomach, see? Doesn't that mean he was struck from the back?"

"Um… I guess so." Mikyoko eyed the wound on Goldy's back. His suit was ripped open a bit, like a slit, about as big as a blade. "So someone stabbed him and that killed him and… he fell over, is what you're saying?"

"Perhaps," he said. Mikyoko sighed. _Of course he'd say that._

"Also, what's this? I found it in his hand," Ezakiya said. He held up a piece of torn paper, crumpled slightly. "It looks like it was ripped off from the original paper… what could it be?"

"Dunno," Mikyoko muttered. "but if you're finding this much stuff already, I have every reason to suspect you."

"Whatever suits you."

**EVIDENCE BULLET: Position of the Body**

**EVIDENCE BULLET: Piece of Paper**

_Goldy –_

_Meet me outside the rooms at 23:50. I think I've found the way out._

–_Kashini_

"…" Fuyu stared at the paper in astonishment. She called Takahashi over, who stared at it in equal shock.

"KA–"

"N-No! Vhat are you doing?!" Fuyu exclaimed, hushing the Soccer Player before she did anything she would most probably regret. "Don't tell him that now! He might- might, you know, if ve tell him now, he might make up an alibi for himself and that'll screw everything up! Don't tell him we found it and we can use it as evidence against him!"

Takahashi shut her mouth. "… Okay, Fuyucchi, you got a point there. But…!" she clenched her fist. "I can't believe him! That manipulating son of a–"

"What are you idiot mongrels doing over there?" Akiyo grumpily asked, trudging over towards them. He had his hands in his pockets, and a disgruntled expression on his face.

"Look at zhis!" Fuyu shoved the paper in front of his face. The Basketball Player reluctantly took hold of it and skimmed over the contents, before handing it back to the unsure Trainer.

"Well? What do you think?" Takahashi prodded. "It's obvious he's the killer, right? The way he was acting last night and all."

"A possibility, but I find it unlikely," Akiyo mused, holding his chin in his thumb and pointer finger. "Look at the handwriting. It's a bit messy and looks like it was in a hurry. They obviously didn't think the plan out thoroughly."

"Fine, what about this?" The Soccer Player grabbed Akiyo's hand and shoved him in front of Kashini's room, pointing to something sparkling on the ground. "See? Look at that! Gold paint – leading to his room! He probably didn't see it and left it behind him after he killed Goldy! Then he went back to his room and stuff happened!"

"Stuff happened?" Fuyu murmured.

"The point is!" Takahashi continued. "It's clear Kashini's the killer. We've got enough evidence on him already!"

"I see your point," Akiyo grumbled, pushing Takahashi away. "but it's too early to be pointing fingers. We need more evidence that he really did it and that the true killer isn't simply framing him. For now, let's go with the saying 'innocent until proven guilty'."

**EVIDENCE BULLET: Note**

**EVIDENCE BULLET: Gold Paint Leading to Kashini's Room**

"Where the _hell _is all this gold paint coming from?" Edward said in exasperation. "Two. That's _two_ trails of gold paint already. One leading to her," he pointed at Kirigiri's room, where a clear trail of sparkling gold pain led to. "and the other to her!" he pointed at Hidaki's room, which only had the faintest of sparkles. "I swear, this is mixing up all the info we have!"

"Oh, hush." Kato brushed past him, eyeing the trail of gold paint leading to Hidaki's room. "I wonder why this trail only has a bit? Maybe the killer just passed by her."

"Or it's a red herring," Edward said.

"Either way," she shot him a look. "it's all very confusing and such, but why are we here? There are already more than enough people investigating outside the rooms. I presume the evidence we've collected has already been found by the others, haven't they?"

A bell rang, and they turned to Qi expectantly. She held up a notebook, and Kato dutifully read from it. "Friday, Naratai, and Annabelle are all investigating the cafeteria. While I agree with Kato, I must say that we should still keep searching. We may find things the others haven't found, and that evidence might cause a big part in the trial."

Just as soon as Kato finished reading (and wrinkling her nose), Edward piped up from the other side of the hallway. "Hey! What's this?"

The two girls rushed over to him as Edward held up a large white tarp. … Well, it _would_ be white, if it wasn't for the fact that one part was drenched in dried blood. He waved it around a bit. "A tarp or something, huh? What's it doing here?"

"It must have something to do with the body," Kato reasoned. "Otherwise, why else would it have blood on it? Unless it's something to detract us from finding out who the murderer is…"

"Well, it's something," Edward said, shrugging. "Just keep it in mind. Might help with the trial."

**EVIDENCE BULLET: Gold Paint Leading to Kirigiri's Room**

**EVIDENCE BULLET: Gold Paint Leading to Hidaki's Room**

**EVIDENCE BULLET: Bloody (sort of) Tarp**

Despite his protests, Naratai was _still _sorted out in a group. The Artist didn't particularly like that, but he dealt with it and kept quiet. Their group decided on investigating the cafeteria, since most of the possible weapons were in there.

"It's probably a knife of some sort," Annabelle mulled. "I saw his wound and everything. It was big enough to look like it was by a knife."

"But… But Takahashi-san said they sorted out the possible weapons and all," Friday pointed out. "So that means the killer hid the weapon before they came here?"

"Assuming the killer came by and hid their weapon in here in the first place," Naratai said grumpily. "They could've been smart and hid it in some place like the infirmary or behind the counter of the lobby or something."

"Or they kept it?" Annabelle raised a gloved hand to her chin. "That might have been a good decision at the time, but then Akiyo-kun might try to get them to give it or…"

"Oh, here we go!" Friday pulled off a piece of paper stuck to the wall above the sink. It had clean and neat handwriting, the sort of handwriting befitting someone like Ezakiya or Kato. "It's a list of the number of possible weapons if ever they go missing."

"'Knives – 20,'" Naratai grunted. "Willing to bet there'll either be 19 knives or 20 and one with blood on it."

"What if they washed it?" Annabelle cocked her head. Naratai responded to that with a dirty look her way.

Friday continued shuffling through the shelves and cabinets before he found one with black permanent marker on it labeling the cabinet 'KNIVES AND OTHER SHARP STUFF'. He quickly opened it and, with great difficulty thanks to his unimpressive height, took out the container labeled as knives and brought it back down. "Here! Found it!"

Despite his confident sounding words that should have inspired them, Friday and Annabelle looked extremely reluctant to even go any nearer than they already had to the container. Naratai rolled his eyes and lifted the cover off the container, counted the knives and shrugged. "… 20."

"What?" Annabelle said. She came over hesitantly and counted the knives once again, before raising an eyebrow. "… Okay. 20 indeed."

"So one of them must have been washed," Friday mused. "Goldy was killed at 23:50, right? Meaning… hey, wait!" his eyes widened. "I locked the cafeteria door, I know that! So how'd the killer get in? I gave the key to Goldy, so…" He paused. "… oh."

"Oh indeed," Naratai grumbled.

"**Ding-a-ling-a-ling~! Hey humans, time's up! It's about time we get to the Hotel Trial! Everyone gather in the lobby, now!**"

Friday stared upwards. "It's time, huh? Can we really do this…?"

"We have to," Annabelle said, already facing the cafeteria door and preparing to walk out. "I just… hope we'll get out of this alive…"

**EVIDENCE BULLET: Number of Knives**

**Time for the Trial! Hope I didn't keep all you guys waiting too long… 'twas a real pain writing this chapter. But send in your reviews and include how you think the murder worked on and who the killer may be!**

_**Marei, 7/3/14**_


End file.
